Western RoundUp: Pioneertown | Classic Movie Hub Blog

Pioneertown

As
longtime readers of this column will be aware, one of my favorite pastimes is
to visit Western film locations.

I recently had the opportunity to visit Pioneertown,
located in California’s Yucca Valley, roughly 16 miles from Joshua Tree
National Park.

Pioneertown is similar to Corriganville, which I wrote about here in 2021, in that it was built specifically for the filming of movies.

Today it remains open as a tourist attraction and
occasional movie location, and it’s also home for a few hundred people.

A notable former citizen of this small community was
singer-actress Nancy Wilson, who died at her Pioneertown home in 2018, at the
age of 81.

Pioneertown was established in 1946. Founding investors from the movie industry included Dick Curtis, Russell Hayden (“Lucky” of the Hopalong Cassidy movies), Roy Rogers, and the Sons of the Pioneers.

Actors George Tobias, David Bruce, and Adele Mara were among those who attended the groundbreaking ceremony in September 1946, along with the investors. There’s a photo of the group at the Pioneertown official website.

Pioneertown was planned as a place within easy driving
distance of both Los Angeles and Palm Springs, providing everything needed for
movie productions and their casts and crews.

There was a store, restaurant, beauty shop, and newspaper.
The town even included a bowling alley, seen above and below, which was enjoyed
by Roy Rogers, who was a skilled bowler. Some readers “of a certain
age” may remember Rogers appearing on the TV show Celebrity
Bowling in the ’70s.

The original plan was to call the community Rogersville
after Rogers, but when his former singing group, the Sons of the Pioneers,
recorded a promotional song called “Out in Pioneertown,” it received
its permanent name.

Over the years many Gene Autry and Cisco Kid movies were
filmed at Pioneertown, along with non-Western films including The
Capture (1950) with Lew Ayres and Teresa Wright and Jeopardy (1953)
with Barbara Stanwyck and Barry Sullivan.

As Western film production became less frequent in the
’50s, numerous TV Westerns shot there, including Gene Autry productions such
as The Gene Autry Show and Annie Oakley. Autry
himself spent a great deal of time in Palm Springs, where he had various
business interests; Pioneertown is roughly 35 miles away.

A small film museum documents some of the productions shot
in Pioneertown over the years.

There’s a small amount of memorabilia in the museum; it’s
chiefly filled with vintage movie posters.

I wrote about Gene Autry’s The Cowboy and the Indians (1949) here in 2018 and again more recently. I was especially enthused about seeing one of that film’s locations in person.

The town’s main street was dubbed Mane Street. Here are
views looking two different directions.

Mane Street is still home to a number of buildings which
once doubled as movie sets.

While an ice cream parlor and grocery store are no longer
there, there’s a still-functioning United States Post Office.

A marker in front of the post office says it’s “said
to be the most photographed post office in the entire United States.”

There’s also a small motel.

Before leaving we ate lunch at the barbecue restaurant
Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, which is also a concert venue. I was
amazed to learn that the artists who’ve performed there have included Paul
McCartney, who gave a concert in 2016.

In the restaurant lobby my eye was caught by an autographed photo of Pioneertown investors the Sons of the Pioneers, who appeared in many movies. That’s one-time group member Ken Curtis, later known as Festus on TV’s Gunsmoke, at the top center.

Pioneertown can be seen end to end, including a stop for
lunch, in two or three leisurely hours. The town occasionally hosts events such
as craft fairs and cookie contests. It’s an interesting and informative stop,
especially for those who love Western film history.

The photographs accompanying this article are from the author’s personal collection.

…

– Laura Grieve for Classic Movie Hub

Laura can be found at her blog, Laura’s Miscellaneous Musings, where she’s been writing about movies since 2005, and on Twitter at @LaurasMiscMovie. A lifelong film fan, Laura loves the classics including Disney, Film Noir, Musicals, and Westerns.  She regularly covers Southern California classic film festivals.  Laura will scribe on all things western at the ‘Western RoundUp’ for CMH.